114 Episodes in 119 Days
by teamprentiss
Summary: As I rewatch all episodes in the time between S5 finale and S6 premiere, I've decided to rewrite my OC into the episodes and finally let her out into the world. AU, full summary inside, no pairings, Plain Sight complete!
1. Extreme Aggressor: Part I

**A/n: Since I started watching Criminal Minds back during Season One, I've had an OC in my head. She started out as something completely different then, and I wrote a couple fics about her. I wasn't happy with them. Through the seasons, I adjusted, poked, and prodded at said OC until she became a well-rounded character with depth and a history. I've never written about new-OC. **

**During the time between the season 5 finale and the season 6 premiere, I've decided to fill the time by watching every Criminal Minds episode over again (hence the 114 episodes in 119 days). Instead of just being a pathetic fan and just watching the episodes, I decided to make it mean something. And so, my OC will finally see some light (it gets dark inside my head). Through this fic I'll be re-writing pieces of episodes to give her a chance to win your hearts/get on your nerves. Some episodes will have quite a bit and may require multiple parts (like Extreme Aggressor), while others might just get a filler-scene or two.**

…

**Well. Here goes nothing.**

_Chapter One: Extreme Aggressor, Part I_

Nineteen-year-old Lydia Parker stood in front of the heavy glass doors leading into the BAU bullpen. She'd been standing there almost two and a half minutes. And in that time she'd decided she must look like a crazy person. Despite the odd looks and sideways glances she was getting from the older agents who passed, her feet refused point-blank to move. Nothing at the FBI or National Academy had prepared her for this. The mission: to approach the severe-looking man on the other side of the doors and inform him that she was the new transfer.

Simple, right?

Wrong. Lydia couldn't decide what about the man made her feet stick to the floor. Maybe it was the fact that he had glared more in the last two and a half minutes than she had in the last year. Maybe it was the fact that there was absolutely nothing out of place about him, not his hair, his suit, or his tie, while her jet black bun was already frizzing and threatening to go all Mount Vesuvius on her head.

Or maybe it was the fact that this all seemed too easy.

She hadn't always wanted to be a profiler. She'd made a last minute switch from sex crimes to profiling after being told there was "no way a little girl like you could ever make it in the BAU" by an older boy in her hand-to-hand class (after all, doubt only fueled her confidence and ambition). Yet almost right out of the National Academy, after spending only a summer in the New York field office, she'd been called by the Section Chief personally to discuss her transfer. Some people waited years to make the BAU. Yet she'd done it in three months. Chief Strauss had credited it to her outstanding qualifications and recommendations. But Lydia wasn't so sure. Something just seemed off, and as a naturally suspicious person, she was on her guard.

She was snapped from her reverie by a blonde woman approaching her target. She spoke to him briefly, then he called to two other male agents in the bullpen and began to walk away. This was her chance. Reshuffling her transfer papers and taking one last deep breath, she pushed the doors open. Once inside, the bullpen seemed larger and harder to cross and she wasn't sure she'd get to the agent in time. His hand was on the door of the conference room when-

"Agent Hotchner!"

The boldness in her tone took even her by surprise and Hotchner turned to look at her with a puzzled look on his face. She approached the older agent and stuck out her hand in what she hoped portrayed confidence. "Lydia Parker. It's very nice to finally meet you."

Hotchner shook her hand, but the look of confusion remained on his face. "Aaron Hotchner. Can I, um, help you with something?"

Handing him the transfer papers in her left hand, she said, "I'm your new transfer sir. I was informed I'd be starting today."

Casting her one last confused look, Hotchner began to scan the papers. He looked back at Parker. "I didn't approve any new transfers. I wasn't aware we'd be having one at all."

Lydia was taken aback, and this time the puzzled look hit her face. "I, um, I was told by the, uh, the Section Chief directly-"

"Chief Strauss sent you?"

"Yes sir, and if you look at the paper you'll her signature is there and right above it, it says that I'd be reassigned to the BAU on September 22, that's today, and I was to report to Unit Chief Hotchner, that's you, and-"

"I'm sorry, but there must've been some sort of mix up. All transfers go through me and this is the first I'm hearing your name. I'm sorry, Agent Parker, but there must have been a mistake."

"No sir, there wasn't, I'm sure that I was reassigned to this unit, to your team, and that I was supposed to be reporting today. The Section Chief said-"

Agent Hotchner held up his hand. "I don't think you understand."

"No, YOU don't understand!" she barked, then quickly re-centered herself, as yelling at her new superior was going to get her nowhere. "Three weeks ago I flew in from New York to meet with the Section Chief. She told me that it looked to her like I was overqualified for the New York field office and that the BAU would be a better fit for me. She signed these papers, told me to tie up any and all loose ends in New York, give my two weeks notice, and to report to you on September 22."

Hotchner locked his eyes on the young agents, and Lydia forced herself to stare back at him. She did not want to show any signs of weakness, especially now that she may not even have a job. After what seemed like an hour, he finally said, "You worked under Kate Joyner?"

"Yes sir," she said, still not breaking eye contact.

He glanced through the papers again, and then sighed in what seemed like defeat. "I'll call Agent Joyner and ask for a recommendation. I'll call Chief Strauss and ask for clarification and a confirmation that you're a part of the team. Until I have both you will be acting as an intern with my team on a probationary basis. If I get both recommendations and you prove you're qualified and know what you're doing, you can stay. You slip up, the team has absolutely no use for you. Do I make myself clear?"

Lydia half-smiled in triumph. "Completely sir. I belong here. You're not going to regret this."

He opened the door to the conference room. "I had better not." He didn't feel it necessary to add that he already was.

**A/n: So there you have it, Extreme Aggressor, Part I. Hate it? Tell me! (just try to avoid flaming) Love it? Tell me! Since I'll be watching an episode almost every day, the updates should be fairly regular. I kept this one shorter as an introduction so that if people absolutely hated it I didn't write too much.**

**I know JJ wasn't actually in Extreme Aggressor, but she was necessary to the scene.**

**Also, if you have a problem with her being nineteen, I understand. Honestly, I don't know if there's an age minimum, but I figure since she's old enough to carry a gun and graduated both high school and college…I dunno. If it's an issue, it's an AU fic anyway. **

**OH! If anyone wants to Beta, I'd be extremely grateful as I'm pretty nervous about how this is going to be received.**


	2. Extreme Aggressor Part II

**A/n: Oh my God. People like this. They actually like this! I am ecstatic! Thanks a million to , Nymphadora-CullenBAU, SignedSealedWritten (the fact that you don't read OC fics and liked this anyway means so much!), lovedrreid, Akumi Uchiha for the votes of confidence!**

**So here we are, part II of Extreme Aggressor. Compulsion should be up by tomorrow morning, if not later tonight. **

**OH YEAH! I FORGOT THIS PART! Disclaimer: I own Lydia. I'm currently in negotiations with Ed over the other characters (and by negotiations I mean I plead with him to let me just BORROW them for a little while he laughs in my face). **

_Chapter Two: Extreme Aggressor, Part II_

_**Joseph Conrad said, "The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary. Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness."**_

Sitting on the BAU jet pre-takeoff was one of the most awkward situations Lydia had ever found herself in. When she'd accepted the job she didn't realize that it would be her and four men, two of which were old enough to be her father, and a third who was close enough. Introductions had been brief and Agent Hotchner informed the team they would be briefed on the jet. She was introduced very quickly to Agent Jareau the media liaison who wouldn't be accompanying the team on this trip. In that time, she could tell that they'd be friends. Agent Jareau was warm and welcoming and honestly seemed like she'd do anything to help her. She already knew Agent Morgan from his hand-to-hand class at the academy. He seemed eager to welcome her onto the team. Agent Reid (Doctor Reid?) seemed nice but just awkward enough that she wouldn't have to worry about him causing her any trouble. She had to remind herself that she was a professional FBI agent and not a fangirl when she found out she'd be working with Agent Gideon, one agent she truly admired and respected. She'd never missed any of his guest lectures in his time at the academy. He was distant and distracted, but she knew that wasn't her fault. It was his first case back after Boston anyway. Agent Hotchner was going to be the tricky one. One false move and she could tell: she'd be done.

After catching the sixth over-shoulder glance from Dr. Reid, she decided to excuse herself to allow the boys a minute to discuss her semi-unwelcome presence. She had just stepped behind the curtain when-

"So wait, who is that exactly?" It was no surprise the young doctor started things off.

"Agent Lydia Parker. She…well she thinks she's the new transfer." Agent Hotchner's voice sounded half-amused, half-skeptical.

"Isn't she?" Agent Gideon inquired, still sounding half disinterested.

"I wasn't informed."

"Hotch, I know her from one of my hand to hand classes at Quantico," Agent Morgan put it.

"And?"

"I'll put it this way: the class consisted of her and twelve men. On the first day of class I told everyone to pair up and spar, just to see what everyone could do. No one paired with her, and who could blame them? She's barely five foot and if she weighs 100 pounds I weigh 1000."

"So what happened?"

"I paired up with her, said I'd go easy, try to show her the ropes…she kicked my ass Hotch. The girl clearly has been studying martial arts for years. From then on out I always got stuck with her because the rest of the dudes were scared of her."

Lydia grinned. It was true. All she had to do was look at one of the boys funny and they backed into a corner.

"Being able to fight doesn't make her right for the BAU."

"No it doesn't. But she knew I was a profiler and always stuck around after class to ask me questions. Questions that showed she was really interested in what we do. Questions that told me that if she ever landed herself in the BAU she'd do whatever it took to stay there."

"I'm not so sure about this Morgan. She showed up out of nowhere, on Strauss's orders-"

"Hotch, the girl deserves a chance," Gideon said, cutting him off.

"And I didn't deserve some notice?"

"If you weren't notified that's Strauss's fault, not Parker's. Give her a chance and she might surprise you."

Lydia almost did a happy dance. Gideon was on her side! Since his return to the BAU, she didn't know whether he or Hotchner held more rank, but with a senior agent on her side, she just might pull this off. At this point Lydia came out from behind the curtain and approached the other agents. In an effort to make an impression, she asked, "Shall we get started?"

Shooting her a look that bordered on icy, Hotchner said, "Of course. Reid?"

"Right! The uh, the Seattle Strangler. His first victim was 26 year old Melissa Kirsch. Stab wounds, strangulation…"

Morgan cut him off. "Wait, he stabbed her and then strangled her?"

"Other way around," Gideon said, "Why do you think he started using the belt with the second murder?"

"Strangulation with one's bare hands is not as easy as you'd believe," Reid replied.

Lydia then spoke up. "He probably tried, found it took too long, and stabbed her instead. But the blood took too long to clean up. So the belt became his method.

Morgan gave her a small smile. "That's right."

After a slightly tense silence, Gideon said, "He's becoming a better killer."

The team arrived at the Seattle Field Office. Not quite knowing what to do, Lydia settled on walking several paces behind Morgan and Reid, who were discussing the effects of Agent Gideon's post traumatic stress disorder. After a reprimand from Hotchner, they assembled in a small conference room.

Hotchner began the introductions. "This is Special Agent Gideon, Special Agent Morgan our expert on obsessional crimes, Special Agent Reid (Gideon corrected him to Dr. Reid) our expert on…well, everything, Agent Parker, brand new as of today so we don't know what she's good at yet, and after busting my butt in this office for two years I hope you remember me." This last comment was met with appreciative laughter from the Seattle agents. _So he DOES know how to smile,_ Lydia thought. _Noted._

The agents started discussing different aspects of the case, what kind of car the unsub drove in order to both assert his masculinity and transport a body, the fact that he dumped the last body out of state on purpose, suggesting knowledge of law enforcement and a possible criminal record ("Or that he watches TV," Morgan added), and when they needed the profile by.

While Gideon and Morgan went to visit the last dump site and Reid and Lydia sat down to start on a profile, Hotchner left to make a phone call.

"Office of Quantico's finest, how may I dazzle you today?"

"Hi Garcia, I need you to run a background check on Agent Lydia Parker."

"That the new chick JJ was telling me about?"

"Yes"

"…she a bad guy?"

"No, at least I don't think so; I just want a little more information on her."

"Hmmm…well, I can get you better than a little more information."

"How much better?"

"How does her entire file and resume sound?"

"Perfect…how'd you find them?"

"Eh, the girl's got very little security on her home computer. Alright, Parker, Lydia M. Born 18 January 1986. No listing for birth parents' names, but she was adopted by a Juliet Parker in Salem, Virginia. She graduated valedictorian from Salem high school in 1999 (for those of us who are good at math she would've been 13 at the time). She went on to graduate summa cum laude from Yale with degrees in Criminal Justice and Pre-law. Check this out, looks like our girl planned to go to law school when she was approached by an Agent Cooper who told her the FBI Academy would be lucky to have her. She enrolled in the FBI Academy in the fall of 2003 before being recommended to continue at the National Academy. Quick fun fact, since the minimum age for special agents in 23 and while Lydia had all the requirements but wasn't quite old enough, she'll automatically be awarded the title of special agent on her 23th birthday. In the time between the FBI Academy and the National Academy, she completed degrees in developmental psychology, sociology, and Chinese at Argosy University in DC. Then after the National Academy she completed degrees in forensic science, Arabic, and Spanish, before coming to the New York field office in the summer of 2005 where she was elemental in a few pretty impressive busts. Wow…do you know how much work she needed to do to complete those degrees in only a few semesters? She must've done nothing but eat, sleep, and homework. Ok, so three weeks ago there was a request for her transfer put in by…Section Chief Erin Strauss. Her BAU assignment started today."

"Just like she said…ok thanks Garcia."

"Hold up! Here are a few fun facts. Our girl can read 14,000 words per minute and boasts an IQ of 164, so smarter than your average, but not quite our Dr. Reid. She's a registered volunteer EMT, so if anyone gets hurt make sure you do it around her. And as well as Arabic, Chinese, and Spanish, she's also fluent in Latin and Greek, just looks like she hasn't had time to go for those degrees yet. This is an impressive kid, boss-man. Treat her well."

"Let me guess…JJ told you I was apprehensive and you want me to give her a chance too?"

Garcia was silent for a minute before replying, "There's a picture in her file. She seems cute."

Hotch rolled his eyes. "Thanks Garcia."

"Tally ho, boss-man!"

Hotch returned to the conference room. "Reid, I want you to come with me to Heather's apartment, Parker…stay her and work on the profile." Hotch had decided that giving her a chance to work alone would be a good test of her skills.

"Yes sir." With that, Lydia set to work piecing together the bits of a profile she had, both from case files and what Gideon and Morgan were giving her from the dump site. He was likely in his twenties, as he had left the belt around Anne Cushing's neck, implying youthful arrogance. While he clothed the victims (which was a sign of remorse), he'd left Cushing in a dump, which could show that he thought women were disposable. His crimes demonstrated that he was organized and smart. He was also a rapist, but rape without penetration showed that he was impotent.

When the rest of the team returned, they began to look through what of the profile Lydia had put together and injected their own ideas. After finding many inconsistencies in the profile, Gideon told the team to tell them "we're ready" causing Morgan to go into a tailspin over the incomplete profile, the girl with only a few hours to live, and a Unit Chief of the verge of a nervous breakdown (which was unfortunately overheard by Gideon). This team was certainly getting interesting

**A/n: Well. This is certainly taking longer than I though. I promise all the episodes won't be like this…**

**And if anyone's wondering, the lines are NOT word for word. I don't want to get any copyright trouble!**


	3. Extreme Aggressor Part III

**A/n: Okay, HOPEFULLY this is part III of III. But no promises. Thanks to lovedrreid for reviewing! **

**Also, did anyone catch who recommended Lydia enroll in the FBI Academy? It's a semi-familiar name. **

**Disclaimer: Ed's got a grip of steel on these characters. So still not mine**

_Chapter Three: Extreme Aggressor Part III_

Richard Slessman. A suspect list of 28 and one name stood out. A SWAT team was assembling, ready to take Slessman from his home when trouble arose in the form of a brunette Seattle agent who refused to send a SWAT team into a house with children. She volunteered to bait Slessman herself. When she presented this idea to Hotchner, she stopped dead, eyes locked on Lydia with the same confused look she'd received too many times that day. When she was out of earshot, Lydia stepped over to Morgan, the person she currently felt safest by.

"So who's the brunette who's decided she doesn't like me?"

Morgan let out a small chuckle. "Elle Greenaway, Seattle Field Office. She's at the top of the list to fill the opening at BAU."

"That would explain her distaste for me."

"How do you mean?"

"Well…I took that opening didn't I?"

"See that's where I'm not sure. That spot's been open for six months, and it's completely Hotch's decision on who fills it. I think the fact that Strauss appointed you might mean the team's going up to eight members."

"Hm…could you fill Greenaway in on that possibility? I don't need two former Seattle agents with a vendetta against me."

Morgan laughed again. "I'm sure you'll be the best of friends once she gets her reassignment papers. And don't worry about Hotch. He's suspicious for now because he doesn't know you. But once you have him on your side he's a solid ally. He'll come around."

_**Emerson said, "All is riddle. And the key to a riddle is another riddle."**_

Slessman's capture was quick and clean. One thing was for sure; Greenaway wanted BAU bad and would do anything to impress her superiors. Morgan informed her that next time she should "show a little leg."

"Morgan, the only time you're gonna see my leg is if I'm about to kick your ass."

Lydia, who'd heard pieces of this conversation, met them at the top of the stairs. "Good," she said with a laugh, "he needs it. I'm Lydia by the way. Nice to run into another girl around here"

The other agent shook her hand. "I know what you mean. BAU can be a bit of a boys club." The two entered Slessman's room.

"Agent Greenaway…Elle…were the circumstances of my transfer explained to you?"

"If by circumstances you mean the fact that you were appointed by Strauss and this will in no way affect my pending reassignment? Yeah, Morgan told me all of that."

Lydia inwardly sighed in relief. "Good. I don't want any tension between me and other team members."

Elle smiled gently. "Hey, don't jinx me. I'm not your team member yet."

Morgan set to work trying to break the deadbolt defense on Slessman's computer.

Elle spoke up, "There could be an email or journal with information on where Heather is. Can you break in?"

"In six tries?"

"Try again, fail again, fail better," Gideon informed him.

Catching his puzzled look, Reid clarified. "Samuel Beckett."

"Try not, do or do not," Morgan countered.

When Gideon was the puzzled one this time, Lydia clarified. "Yoda."

From interviewing Slessman, it was discovered that the conflicts in the profile indicated two personalities-and therefore, two killers. Lydia went back with Gideon, Hotch, and Elle to the field office to try and get the name of the partner as leverage. When the name Charles Linder came up, Gideon, Lydia, and Elle headed to Cascadia Prison, where Linder had been incarcerated. Initially, Lydia was supposed to stay with Hotch and work on breaking down Slessman, but after repeatedly insisting that he "didn't need her help", Gideon had her accompany them to Cascadia.

_**Winston Churchill said, "The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you will see."**_

Almost as soon as the trio arrived at Cascadia, they received some unsettling news. After being told to see Tim Vogel, the guard in charge of Slessman's block, Elle had just gotten off the phone with Hotch. "Linder is dead. He died in a car accident two months ago."

Vogel apologized that they had come for nothing. But it wasn't for nothing. "He slipped up," Lydia said after they'd left the prison, "He gave us too much information."

"He protected Slessman, made him feel like he owed him," Gideon said.

"He fits the profile," Elle said.

"And did you see the keys?" Lydia added. A Z keychain, belonging to a Datsun 240Z, exactly the type of car Heather Woodland was in the market for.

The trio waited in the car for Vogel to pull out of the garage before tailing him. Gideon called Hotch and told him that his leverage was Timothy Vogel.

"There's something wrong," Elle said after they'd been driving only five minutes, "We have to pull him over."

"Do you want to know the word repeated in your file more than any other?" Gideon asked, not really waiting for an answer. "Impatient. You wanna pull him over, you give me a reason."

"His behavior's wrong. When we left he was nervous and unsettled, but now he's stopping at all the stop signs, using his blinker at every turn."

"She's right. This is not someone who's rushing to kill and dump a body," Lydia felt obligated to back the agent up.

"Alright. Do it."

Elle turned on the lights and sirens and once the car stopped, the agents exited the car, guns in hand.

"FBI put your hands where we can see them. Put them through the window now!" Elle ordered. "With your left hand, open the door from the outside."

As soon as he did what she said she pulled him from the car…but it wasn't Vogel.

"That's not him!" Lydia said, instantly feeling stupid for stating the obvious.

"Where is he? Where's Vogel?" Gideon demanded. "Why are you driving his car?"

"He asked me if he could borrow my truck after our shift!"

"He's dumping the body!"

"What's the make? What's the make?"

"Dodge! Dodge Dakota!"

Almost as soon as they were back in the car, Gideon got a call from Morgan. "Gideon, Heather's alive."

"How do you know?"

"Because we're watching her right now. We got into Slessman's computer and found a video feed of Heather."

After placing an SOS call to Hotch for a location, he learned from Slessman that she was on a boat in Allied Shipyard. They were there within five minutes and found a Dodge Dakota parked by the pier. Elle went around one way, while Lydia backed up Gideon from another. Within seconds the girl emerged from a boat, closely followed by Vogel.

"Stop!" Gideon ordered.

"I'll shoot her!"

"If I were you, I'd aim the gun at me, you shoot her, you've got nothing." Gideon put his gun away. Lydia kept hers steady. "What are you a lousy shot? Fifteen feet away, you've got a perfect shot, shoot me."

"You think I'm stupid?"

"I think you're an absolute moron." Lydia was almost shocked at Gideon's boldness. She understood hostage negotiations, but was this really the way to go? "I know your whole story Tim, you're at the gym five days a week, you reek of cologne, you drive a flashy car, and you can't get it up. Not even Viagra's working for you and that tells me you're hopelessly compensating. It's not in your head! What'd the girls call you in high school when you fumbled your way into their pants and they got a good look at just how little you had?" Lydia didn't like where this was going. "Short stack? Very little Vogel? Oh I've got it, Tiny Tim!"

Lydia saw what was going to happen a second before it happened. Vogel started pushing Heather away, realigned the aim of his gun. "Gideon!" she called, trying to pull the older agent out of the way. Vogel pulled the trigger. Several shots rang out behind them as Elle took Vogel down. Lydia could feel the adrenaline pumping in her ears as she almost fell to the ground. Gideon caught her by her shoulders. "Are you ok?" she asked, as the location of Vogel's bullet was unknown to her. Elle had immediately gone to Heather.

"I'm fine…I'm fine," Gideon said as he pulled his hand away from her shoulder. It came away bloody. "Oh, but you're not."

"What?" Lydia said, but in that moment the pain hit her. "Oh God. I'm hit, aren't I?"

Gideon turned her to look at the wound. "Not completely. Judging by your torn shirt, looks like it grazed you."

Gideon was right. Two ambulances had arrived, and after the EMTs had gotten Heather calmed down, one saw to the wound on Lydia's shoulder. It appeared that as she'd turned to push Gideon, the bullet had grazed from the back of her right shoulder and taken a piece out of the front of her upper arm before continuing into oblivion. Once her blouse was removed and she was left in just a cami (which was freezing, by the way), the EMT had a clear view of the injury and found that it was easy enough to take care of. "Must've been a trick bullet," the EMT joked. Lydia didn't really think it was funny.

As the rest of the team, the coroner, and the police arrived, Lydia stayed in the back of the ambulance, sitting on the edge with her head in her hands. She hoped that if she made herself small enough people would just ignore her. She was in pain and didn't want anyone to see her in a weak moment. She didn't get her wish.

"You ok?"

Lydia was surprised to see, of all people, Hotchner standing next to her. "Yeah. I'm fine." Lydia cell started ringing and seeing the caller ID, she knew she had to answer me. "One second…hello?"

"WHAT. THE HELL?" a female voice yelled from the other line. Lydia tried to keep her own voice quiet, but knew Hotchner would be able to hear every word. "WOULD YOU LIKE TO EXPLAIN THE PHONE CALL I JUST GOT?"

"No. Not really."

"WELL YOU BLOODY WELL BETTER. DO YOU REMEMBER THE LAST THING I SAID TO YOU BEFORE YOU LEFT YESTERDAY MORNING?"

"Yes Lis, I remember what you said."

"WELL APPARENTLY NOT." The line then went dead.

Lydia looked back at Hotchner, who looked semi-amused. "Everything ok?"

Lydia sighed heavily. "Yeah. It was my cousin Lisbon, she uh…well I guess someone called her about…" Lydia pointed, indicating the bandage on her shoulder.

Hotchner nodded. He waited a moment before adding, "What was the last thing she said to you before you left?"

"…don't get shot." To Lydia's surprise Hotchner smiled. He placed a hand on her good shoulder before joining Reid and Morgan.

Elle then came over to her. "Hey," she said. "You alright?

"First day on the job and I'm already shot…if I can handle this, the rest should be a cakewalk."

Elle laughed. "Except for the part where you're dealing with a difficult boss. Did I see him smile just now?"

"Yeah! Good to know he's capable."

Elle nodded. "You know…before he came over to you he told me something."

"What was that?"

"I got the job."

Lydia grinned. "That's great Elle." Another female on the team, a senior agent on her side, and a supervisor who was capable of cracking a smile. _I just might pull this off yet._

_**Nietzsche once said, "When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks into you."**_

**A/n: TAH DAH! Well, there you have it! Extreme Aggressor: redux. Love it? Hate it? Want me to write Compulsion? Let me know in the reviews! Compulsion should be shorter. Correction, Compulsion WILL be shorter (at least chapter wise). I'm not sure I have any huge Lydia moments for it. This one obviously had to be longer since I had to introduce her and everything. **

**P.S. Lis is pronounced like Liz…Lisbon (who is Lydia's cousin and roommate) will be mentioned sporadically throughout the fic. **


	4. Compulsion

**A/n: You guuuuuys! *sniffs* you actually like this? That absolutely makes my life! Many thanks to Aeleita, Nymphadora-CullenBAU, RandomSkittles, and Akumi Uchiha for reviewing! SPECIAL thanks to for reviewing chapter one who for some reason did not show up in my listing in chapter two (I wrote you in there, I swear!)**

**Extreme Aggressor was written differently than most of the others will be. I had to make it longer to include introductions and get Lydia situated within the team. Compulsion will be written the way most of the others will be: shorter snippets, maybe a summary of what's happened leading up to the scene Lydia's in (after all, no point in re-writing scenes where you all know what happens). If it seems too jumpy let me know and I'll do what I can to fix it.**

**Also, from here on out **_**italics**_**=flashback or Lydia's thoughts (which will be in quotes)**

**Disclaimer: Muahaha! I've gotten a hold of Garcia! *looks around* Drat, Ed stole her back.**

_Chapter Four: Compulsion_

_**Einstein once said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."**_

Six days in and Lydia found she was adjusting to the BAU nicely. While Morgan had been her friend prior to her transfer, she found she bonded well with Elle, Reid, and JJ. Reid, while awkward, was closest to Lydia's age and understood what it was like to be too young for your world. She and Elle were adjusting together (both having come from field offices with a background in sex crimes). They figured safety in numbers was a safe bet for now. Happily, she'd been given a desk adjacent to Elle's, meaning the two could discreetly shoot help back and forth. JJ went out of her way to be helpful to both Lydia and Elle, insisting that if they needed anything her door was always open. Though usually busy, Gideon usually found the time to check in with her. Hotchner was still a bit icy, but she figured that was going to last for a little while.

However, there was no contest that Lydia liked Penelope the most. She was bright, bubbly, and had immediately endeared herself to Lydia. The morning after the Seattle case Lydia was sitting at her desk filling out her first (and what she hoped would be her last) injury report, when she became vaguely aware that someone was standing behind her. She turned to find a rather exuberantly dressed blonde.

"_I was right," the blonde said, "You are cute."_

_Lydia knitted her eyebrows. "Um…thanks? That's not usually a good thing for an FBI agent though."_

_The blonde smiled. "I'm Penelope. Garcia. I'm the tech analyst for the BAU."_

"_Lydia Parker. I'm just kind of here for now...'til I pass inspection or whatever else."_

_Garcia nodded. "JJ told me about your boss man troubles. Don't worry too much about it. Hotch is a good guy. He'll realize you're good too."_

_Lydia sort of laughed. "You don't even know me yet. Maybe I'm not so good."_

"_You are. I can just tell."_

With a team of new friends and a nicely healing shoulder, Lydia was feeling pretty confident around the BAU. She still treaded lightly around Hotchner, vowed to get all of her reports in a day early, and never showed up even a second late. She'd wanted this job, and now that she had it she was going to keep it, no matter what.

Despite her new found comfort, Lydia was eager to get back out in the field. Her chance came in the form of the Bradshaw College fires in Arizona. A serial arsonist, recently turned serial killer, was terrorizing the campus. Phoenix had requested BAU assistance. After going through a typical profile of an arsonist on the plane, the BAU arrived on campus. Just hours later, the college lost a professor to another fire. At a loss, the team was grateful when the students of the Chemistry Department stepped up, offering information. As one of the students put it, "We know how he did it."

Much to her surprise, Hotch asked Lydia and Reid to lead the discussion with the chemistry students as they were "more their age." Reid started off. In hindsight, it was not a good idea.

"Hi…uh, hi guys. I'm, uh, Dr. Spencer Reid…I'm an agent with the BAU, the, uh, Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. It used to be called the, uh, the BSU, the Behavioral Science Unit, but they changed it to the BAU. It's, uh, part of the NCAVC, the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, which is also part of the CIRG, the Critical Incident Response Group and uh…"

Sensing his panic, Lydia clamped her hand over the genius's mouth and said, "What the good doctor is trying to say is we'd like to know how you can help." The students gave an appreciative laugh and even Hotchner gave her a small smile. She shot her eyebrows up at him, saying, _"Is he always like this?"_ Hotchner nodded back. Yikes.

One of the students, presumably the same one who'd approached Dean Turner, spoke for the group. Holding up a light bulb, he said, "Drill a hole in the side, fill it with whatever's good and flammable, turn the light on…boom."

Another girl from the back of the room spoke up. "This stuff is all over the internet. Want to know the ingredients for a Molotov that sets itself on fire?" She began to count off the ingredients on her fingers. "Potassium, sulfur, and normal sugar. Sugar. Sugar, which is…"

"Not exactly plutonium," the boy added.

"Sugar from the super market. You can get this stuff anywhere."

"You don't have to be a chemistry major to know that," Hotch said.

At almost the same time the agents were interviewing the chemistry students, Garcia had received a hit on the tip line.

"Karen. I do this for Karen."

No matter how many times the team listened to the clip, it was unsure whether he was saying Karen, Kara, or any number of other things. The voice was distorted and hard to hear. They couldn't make sense of this. Morgan called Garcia and asked her to put it through as many audio filters as possible. Dean Turner got the team a list of students with the first name Karen. Morgan, Elle, and Lydia set to work interviewing the Karen's, but it wasn't an easy task. There were a lot of Karen's on campus. They were on number seven when Morgan asked, "Can't we just change the first question to 'have you recently dated a homicidal pyromaniac?'" The interviews turned up nothing.

After running the audio through as many filters as possible, Garcia knew one thing for sure: he wasn't saying Karen ("There's an afternoon we won't get back," Lydia said). At the same time, Gideon had also realized that he was saying Charown, which was Hebrew for God's burning anger.

"So our motive is religious?"

"Actually, God is often related to fire."

"Well in Hinduism, Agni is fire, the Jews see God as a pillar of fire, and Christians worship God as a consuming fire."

"So a theology major? Maybe he's punishing the students for their sins?"

"What's the most sinful place on campus? Fraternity? Campus bar?"

"When I was in college, the most sinful place was everywhere."

"But that's not consistent with the other targets."

Gideon stopped them. "Let's not jump to conclusions, religion might be part of it-"

He was cut off.

"Gideon, rush to conclusions, jump to conclusions."

"We are running out of time!"

It was Reid who discovered what the fires really meant. It was a compulsion. "It's an extreme manifestation of OCD. He does everything in threes and if I'm right, he'll have to kill again."

"It could be a form of scrupulosity," Lydia said, "He's driven crazy by the guilt of committing a sin and has to do something to ease that anxiety."

"Any convergence of threes causes that anxiety and the unsub has to set a fire as soon as that pattern hits."

"I think I know who it is," Hotch said, "And it's not a he, it's a she." He looked at Lydia, who immediately knew who he was talking about.

Clara Hayes. A chemistry student who'd been there the night Hotch, Reid, and Lydia had gone to talk with them.

"She had a ring on her finger that she kept turning at intervals of three," Hotch said.

"And she counted off the ingredients for the Molotov bombs on her fingers," Lydia added.

"And the word sugar," Reid said, "She kept repeating it. Palilalia. The involuntary repetition of words."

The team pulled her files. She lived in an apartment off campus, so Morgan and Elle went to check it out. They discovered the stressor was that she was failing out and in her last semester. They also discovered that when she was 16 she survived a fire. The house number was 333. Her mother had said that her daughter had been tested by God and came through blessed. Morgan and Elle also discovered at least thirty homemade bombs in her apartment. Hotch ordered them to evacuate and seal the building. Gideon sent the team and security out to start pulling fire alarms and to find "anything and everything having to do with the number three." They needed to find the next pattern.

And they found it. Three students, working on the Three Body Problem, stuck on the third floor of the science building. Hotch, Lydia, and Gideon got to them just in time to find Clara holding a flare over the open elevator containing three students soaked in gasoline.

"Clara stop," Hotch ordered.

She turned, eyes wide, half in fright and half in mania. "I can't."

"Clara, you know this isn't rational."

Clara was torn. She knew. But she couldn't stop. "I know. I know."

"Then resist."

"God chose me to be tested, and now he's chosen them, if I don't do this something terrible will happen."

"What, Clara, a flood, an earthquake, you know this isn't right. You tried to tell me. You said it was a chemistry student. You left the message about Charown."

It was as if she couldn't hear him. She started rocking, flare in hand, "Father, son, holy ghost."

"Clara stop!" Hotch said, drawing his gun. Lydia drew hers, closing in from the other side of the hall, Gideon close behind.

"God…chose…them."

He was left with no choice. Hotch shot her in the leg, causing her to drop the flare, which started rolling. Lydia ran and stomped it out.

"I thought you said not to reason with her," Gideon quipped.

The students were pulled from the elevator. Clara was taken off in an ambulance. Two cases. Two happy endings. Hey, at least she managed to dodge the bullets this time.

_**Faulkner once said, "Don't bother to just be better than your contemporaries or predecessors; try to be better than yourself."**_

**A/n: Uh, it won't be her last injury report. Not by a long shot. And I don't know if they really exist, it was just convenient. **

**Also, I'm rather disappointed that I had no reason to include the best quote of this episode. Heck, I'll put it in anyway.**

"**Clara, is this building on fire?"**

"**Not yet."**

**=O**

**Reviews make me happy!**


	5. Won't Get Fooled Again

**A/n: *sigh* I should be on Riding the Lightning by now. But alas, multi-chapter episodes, book reports, finals, and prom nights can make for little free writing time (on the plus side, I AM OFFICALLY DONE WITH 10****TH**** GRADE! HALLE-FREAKING-LUJAH!). I've also had zero inspiration on what to do with Won't Get Fooled Again. You see, I have some very clear pictures of Lydia's character in certain episodes (A Shade of Gray, Lo-Fi, In Birth and Death, and Plain Sight for example). Others have absolutely nothing. Oh well. Filler chapter! I have a MUCH better idea of what to do with Plain Sight, so don't worry.**

**Thanks to Akumi Uchiha for reviewing. As for RIPCURL . aus, you reviewed the first chapter but for some odd reason it always deletes your name from my list. I reformatted this time, so hopefully it'll show up.**

**HUGE GIANT MEGA-THANKS TO AUBREY FOR UNBLOCKING MY WRITERS BLOCK IN ONE DAY AFTER TWO WEEKS OF ME TRYING TO DEAL WITH IT BY SITTING AND STARING AT THE SCREEN. Everyone wave hi to Aubrey! She's my new beta (she'll get a penname eventually…)**

**Disclaimer: Can I have them for a day? Half a day? An hour? Half an hour? Grr. Fine, Ed, be that way.**

_Chapter Five: Won't Get Fooled Again _

Lydia had to admit, being in the presence of Adrian Bale was both terrifying and thrilling. She'd followed that case almost religiously, as she'd recently switched to profiling at the time the case was at its climax. He was everything his profile predicted: cold, arrogant, and yes, slightly terrifying.

At the time that Bale was brought in her adrenaline was already pumping from almost being blown up. That was not an experience she wished to duplicate. Another experience she didn't wish to duplicate? Getting reamed out by Hotchner in front of Elle, some EMTs, and some CSU techs. At the Walker home, Mrs. Walker had been hit with a car. As an EMT, Lydia's first instinct was to run to Mrs. Walker. Apparently, this was wrong. Elle had immediately drawn her gun and fired on David Walker (the unsub, who was driving the car). According to Hotchner, with both of them firing, he might not have gotten away.

Ok, so maybe it wasn't the fact that Lydia had gone to help Mrs. Walker that set Hotch off. Maybe, just maybe it was the fact that he'd overheard her say "Bite me," after telling her that she should've fired on Walker.

"_Excuse me?"_

_Lydia stopped dead. She hadn't known Hotchner long, but she could tell she'd just made a fatal mistake. _

"_Is this attitude of yours something I'll be dealing with often? Because if it is, I should let you know that it won't reflect well on my assessment of your skills."_

_Lydia attempted to stare him down, but his glare was almost blinding. "No sir. It was a slip of the tongue. My mistake."_

"_I spoke with Agent Joyner on the phone. According to her these "slips" happen pretty often when you don't get your way."_

_Lydia scoffed. "Agent Joyner was threatened by me, and she'll say anything she can to lower my status."_

"_Threatened?"_

"_In the first month I worked in the New York Field Office, there were already talks of me replacing her. She's doing a bang-up job, and she knows it. Anyone seen as a threat has to be squished. Since she didn't manage to do that in New York, I guess she's trying to do that here."_

"_Agent Joyner is by no means doing a "bang-up job". She's a highly skilled agent and was your superior. If you had a problem with respecting her, hear this now: a refusal to respect your superiors in the BAU will get you a one-way ticket out of here and to a desk job. And furthermore, making a comment like that is inappropriate conduct, regardless of who hears it. If you're trying to prove your worth to the BAU, you're not doing a very good job. You're still here on a probationary basis, and if you don't get yourself in gear very, very soon, the BAU won't be seeing much more of you. Do I make myself clear?"_

_Lydia spent a few moments glaring back before replying, "Inescapably. I apologize. I was out of line. It won't happen again."_

"_No it won't."_

She was trying desperately to shake the earful she'd gotten back out. From what she could tell, Gideon gave him a talking to in Lydia's favor. It probably wasn't going to do her any good. And besides, she didn't have a problem with respect. She had a problem with people who demanded it before earning it. So far Agent Hotchner had spent all of his time ignoring her and not giving her a chance to prove herself. Then when she got the chance to do something, it was wrong. Not quite worthy of her respect in her book.

Had she been out of line? Yes, she could admit that. Was Hotchner out of line? No, probably not. She should've kept her comments to herself. She should've learned that in New York. Lydia flopped down in her favorite chair by her favorite window in her favorite coffee shop. Five minutes from the Academy, she'd found it a great place to wind down after exams or anything else stressful like that. Hopefully it would have the same effect now. She'd been there five minutes when she heard a voice.

"Mind if I sit down?" Agent Gideon stood next to the table, coffee in hand.

Lydia sighed. "No. I suppose not."

The two sat silently for a few minutes before Gideon spoke up. "You ok?"

"That depends. Am I fired?"

Gideon smiled. "Not yet."

"I've worked three cases. Three cases, and I've managed to screw up more than agents who have worked hundreds."

"Hotch isn't a bad guy."

"Neither am I."

"I tried to tell him that. You want this, don't you?"

"More than I've ever wanted anything."

Gideon nodded. "I see that. Hotch does too."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Does he?"

"Very much. Hotch just doesn't know you. All he knows about you is that you're stubborn, you have a bit of a big mouth, and you were appointed by Strauss. Only the latter affects your position in the BAU."

"I don't follow."

"All that stuff you said about Joyner seeing you as a threat? Hit a little too close to home for Hotch. He's had trouble with Strauss for years because she sees him as a threat. For all he knows you could be here as a spy."

Lydia gaped at him. "What? That's ridiculous. Strauss said she appointed me for my skills. That's all there is."

"And maybe that's true. But maybe it isn't. All I'm saying is that Hotch's problem with you is not really a problem with you. Therein lies the way to prove your worth to the BAU."

"And that is?"

"Don't worry so much about proving others wrong. Just focus on proving yourself right."

Lydia thought about that. Proving Hotchner wrong did seem completely impossible. And while she didn't quite believe that his only problem was with Strauss, proving herself right was something she could do.

**A/n: AHHHH FREAKING FINALLY. That took long enough, right? PLEASE REVIEW! I only got one review for the last chapter, and that didn't help my motivation one bit.**

**Plain Sight WILL be up tomorrow. Or later tonight. I'm also going to pre-write some chapters where I know exactly what I want to happen, so that should help timing wise. **


	6. Plain Sight

**A/n: yeah, yeah, I know I said I'd update this a lot sooner. But I didn't get any reviews for Won't Get Fooled Again, and it bummed me out. BUT! A few people favorited/alerted, which I appreciate, but I'd love to hear from you!**

**For those of you who haven't heard the madness, CBS has let AJ Cook go and is reducing Paget Brewster's screen time. If you're as outraged as I am, join the facebook group "Save AJ and Paget!" and sign this petition: ****http : / www. petitiononline. com / cmwomen / petition .html (get rid of the spaces). **

**I'm not entirely sure what to do with Broken Mirror. If ANYONE has ideas, PLEASE feel free to share them with me. **

**Also, I will not be writing a redux of "The Fight". It pisses me off too badly. **

**Disclaimer: *glares at Ed* This guy will not budge…so, for now, they're still his. **

_Chapter Six: Plain Sight_

_"Don't worry so much about proving others wrong. Just focus on proving yourself right."_

She could do it. She knew she could. But that was before the BAU was assigned a rape case.

She wasn't ready for a rape case. Yes, originally wanted to go into sex crimes. Yes, her knowledge, paired with Elle's, would be exceedingly useful during this case. But she just didn't feel ready.

Lydia found herself sitting in an undercover car with Gideon and Elle, just waiting for a rapist to show up. An extremely pissed off rapist who looked like he belonged in the neighborhood. Forget needle in a haystack. It was a hunt for a needle in a pile of needles.

And that needle's name was Franklin Graney. A telephone repairman. Gideon had said it best, "Who looks for a phone guy up on a pole?" He could watch everything. Husbands and kids leaving. Police patrols. He could even tap into phone lines to make sure the victim was home.

He was angry. He was on the move. And he swore he'd strike today. Now it was just a matter of finding him. Hotch met up with the trio and they split up, checking the block for signs of him. They'd found his truck, so they knew he'd be close.

It was the first time Lydia had been on her own in the field. She wasn't going to lie, she was terrified and almost losing her head. It wasn't until the sound of a baby's cries pulled her towards a house that she snapped back into agent-mode. She found the gate open and back door open, a baby left screaming in the kitchen, and a phone-technician's belt on the counter. She didn't have time to wait for backup, but she called Gideon with the address. 875 Orange Street. She had the rest of her team on the way, but for now she was operating solo.

She quickly ascended the stairs, her small frame nimbly stepping on the stairs, making almost no sound. She crept down the hallway, hearing muffled shouts from the bedroom. Perhaps the final verses of "A Dialogue Betwixt Death and a Lady", the poem he seemed to be so fond of. Lydia stopped short as her foot hit a creak in the floor. Graney's voice stopped abruptly. Now that he knew she was in the house, it was useless to stay quiet. She rushed down the remainder of the hallway, took a deep breath, and turned the doorknob.

"I'll shoot her." The words were out of Graney's mouth before Lydia even had a chance to look him in the face. The profile was absolutely right. He was completely ordinary, just a phone technician that no one would look twice at unless told to. His victim was bound and gagged, lying on her stomach on the bed.

"No you won't," she stated, not allowing her nerves to show in her voice, "And I'm going to tell you why. If you shoot her, I'll have to shoot you. The way my gun is pointed right now there's no way it won't be a headshot. Then you'll be dead, and the Tommy Killer will be no more."

"That's a lie. The Tommy Killer will live on forever!"

"Actually, no, he won't. You see, it'd be great for me, as a rookie agent, to be able to say that I caught the Tommy Killer, unassisted. No backup. I'd have bragging rights from now until the next century. But…no…I think I'll just tell them that…I caught a low-life burglar. Yeah, a burglar with no connection to the Tommy Killer at all." Graney looked horrified. Lydia had him exactly where she wanted him. "And then what'll happen? Well, the case will go unsolved. The attacks will stop. The file will get pushed behind more important cases. And once and a while, sure, someone will ask, 'hey, whatever happened to the Tommy Killer?' but after a while, no one will care. The Tommy Killer will be forgotten. YOU will be forgotten."

Graney stared, wide-eyed back at her. "You…you wouldn't do that…"

"You wanna bet?" she snarled, her demeanor switching from taunting to intimidating. "Shoot her. See what happens. " Lydia softened again. "I'll make you a deal. You give me the gun. You leave quietly with me. I have a media specialist outside, and I will make sure that she gets your face plastered on every TV and newspaper in the country."

Silence hung between them for a moment. Graney looked from Lydia, to the victim, and back to Lydia again. "You promise?"

"Yes sir. I promise." Graney nodded, slowly moving away from the bed. Lydia outstretched her hand. "Give me the gun. That's right. Just walk away." Hotch, Elle, and Gideon arrived behind her, just in time to see that she didn't need them.

The victim began to sob, yelling about her baby, as Elle eased the gag from her mouth. "He's fine," Elle said, reassuring her, "We have an agent with him right now." Gideon cuffed Graney and took him out of the room.

Elle carefully unbound her, helping her to her feet. "Thank you," she said to Lydia, "Thank you."

Hotch looked over to Lydia, with a look in his eyes that she didn't recognize. "Nice job," he said, before leaving the room.

Later on the plane, Lydia sat with headphones in her ears, head back, and eyes closed. Though she hadn't let on at the scene, she'd been shaken by the encounter with Graney. She'd done good work, that much was apparent. But nonetheless, she didn't feel like talking to anyone. She lost her shot at that when she felt someone sit across from her. She opened her eyes to find Morgan sitting there. She shot her eyebrows up by way of greeting. Morgan returned the gesture. "Happy one month."

Lydia knit her brows together. "What?"

"You've been here for a month."

A cold sense of dread crept through Lydia's veins at this realization. "Great…just great," she said.

"What's wrong?"

"Probation's over. Hotchner has to make his decision. This might've been my last case. At least it was a hell of a way to go out. I just hope Joyner will take me back."

Morgan chuckled. "Do you even remember what happened today?"

"What about it?"

"Did you really take down the Tommy Killer, without backup, and without firing a single shot?"

"Yes…"

The older agent nodded. "Then you have nothing to worry about. You saved that woman's life today. That'll be good enough for Hotch. And even if it isn't, you have Gideon on your side. And he's a very persuasive man. You have nothing to worry about."

Morgan was right. The next morning, Lydia found a set of permanent credentials on her desk, complete with the notation that she was with the BAU. She glanced around to make sure Hotch wasn't watching, and then shot Morgan and thumbs up. She belonged. For real this time. She honestly and truly belonged.

_Rose Kennedy said, "Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?"_

**A/n: To borrow a line from two of my favorite authors (Cara and Ava, collectively ), reviews are love…**


End file.
